Manchester United's new signing, Alexis Sánchez, revealed that he had always wanted to play for the club ever since he was a young boy.

Sánchez made the move to Old Trafford from rivals Arsenal as midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan went in the opposite direction, heading to the Emirates Stadium.

There was plenty of speculation surrounding one of the biggest deals in recent memory, and the signing was eventually announced on Monday evening.

Sanchez dreamt of playing for United

United’s new number seven told the club’s official website that he had spoke to Sir Alex Ferguson at length in the past about fulfilling his dream of becoming a Red Devil.

“Since I was a young lad, I’ve always said that my dream was to play for Manchester United, and I’m not just saying that because I’m here now and today it’s come true,” he said.

“It really is a massive club, very powerful, and so now, when I got the opportunity to come here, I looked at the badge and the hairs stood up on end because it’s a powerful club and the biggest in England.”

Players like to feel “important and loved”

In United’s last match, Anthony Martial scored, what turned out to be, the winner as the Reds edged past Burnley at the weekend.

Sánchez, who won the La Liga title in the 2012-13 season with Barcelona, faces tough competition for a place in the starting line-up, with Martial and Marcus Rashford being in fine form at the moment.

The 29-year-old said it is important for a player to feel “important and loved” by the club at times and that was one of the main reasons the Chilean international signed.

He added: “[Mourinho] indicated it is important for the club for me to be here. I also believe that the club itself cared about me joining, and I got the impression that they were keen for me to come here and wear the number seven shirt.

“I think that also gets through to the player. Players sometimes need to feel important and loved by the club.”

Sanchez could potentially make his debut in the FA Cup Fourth Round tie away to League Two side Yeovil Town in Friday evening, in front of the BBC cameras.